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What is the ONE thing you can do to invite more presence, pleasure and peace into your life? That’s right! Just as the title explicitly states, “sit your butt down!” Meditation. Just the word brings up so many feelings for people. It sounds nice, but what does it really mean and do I REALLY have to let go of ALL my thoughts? Impossible, right?! WRONG. I’m not going to take this time to tell you the thousands of benefits of meditation, the different kinds or products, apps and novelties you can use to enhance your sitting meditation practice. Here are some links for those who are interested:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070http://www.mindvalley.com/blog/announcements/the-greatest-innovation-in-meditation-in-3000-years/http://noetic.org/topics/meditation/ I AM going to give you simple steps that anyone can do no matter rich or poor, stationary or mobile, ridiculously busy or perfectly balanced.Here is a short simple guide to sitting meditating: 1) IMPORTANT: Give yourself permission to just sit. This is crucial as our western mind is always coming up with better things to do with our time before we’ve even fully experienced what is right in front of us…what we are doing right now. So trust you inclination to just sit and that all good things will come from it! It sounds something like this in your head – “All I have to do for the next 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes is sit and breathe.”

Then if your mind still needs a reason – “I am doing more good for myself, my family and the world in these 5 minutes than I am rushing around like a like a crazy person for two hours not really accomplishing anything of meaning!”2) You guessed it! Sit your ass down! Here’s the kicker – it doesn’t’ matter where! You can make a “sacred space” or alter or find a beautiful setting for sure, but I can tell you I wasted years NOT meditating looking for the perfect spot! I used to sit under our fig tree but since we moved into a 700 square foot apartment, I now wake up, put my butt on the pillow my head was just laying on and sit criss-cross-applesauce first thing in the morning. You can sit on your patio, on the floor, next to your kids as they drift of to sleep…. it doesn’t matter, just SIT STILL.

3) Sit as tall as you can, spine towards the sky. If this is uncomfortable, then screw it! Just sit. :)

4) Close your eyes. Um, yeah, that’s it. J :)

5) Breathe. In and out. Inhale and exhale. You do NOT have to breath any particular way! If your mind needs something to do simple say to yourself, “I am breathing in” (yep, when you are indeed breathing in) and “I’m and breathing out” (you guessed it, when you are exhaling). That’s it.

6) ***EXTRA CREDIT FOR YOU OVER ACHEIVERS***SMILE! :)Do it once a day for a week and I would love to hear about your experience in the comments below! Do you think anyone could do this? Too hard? Too easy? Just right? Thanks for making the world a better place by sitting yo’ ass down!

Happy New Year! This post is inspired (read poured onto my notebook) by the 10th week and final week of The Presence Process. If you often find yourself seeking appreciation and approval of what you do, what you know or who you"be" in this crazy world this post is for you. Through writing this, I was able to FINALLY feel and embody appreciation of myself last Thursday morning. Perhaps you won't have to take yourself though such an intense process and purging in order to embody this by writing your own letter.

Dear Leslie,

I appreciate that you lose sleep over minor injustices done to kids on the playground and brainstorm ways to make it right in the wee hours of the morning.

I appreciate that you see clearly the illusion of separation between humans as well as between humans and nature. I appreciate that you try to fill in the gap with love, acceptance and truth and fiercely commit to shaking people (however ineffective sometimes) from their slumber.

I appreciate that you feel things deeply, sometimes painfully, blissfully and almost always viscerally. I appreciate that you attempt to communicate these Oneness experiences with the intent that others may understand the ridiculousness of continuing the belief of the illusion of our separation.

I appreciate that although you fail over and over in filling this gap...bridging the worlds, that you continue to try over and over (many times to your own detriment and that of your family).

I appreciate the purity of your intentions and motivations.

I appreciate the love you feel to and through your bones for humanity and the earth.

I appreciate that it feels hard sometimes to not have this recognized consistently by the outer world.

Dearest Leslie,

I now give you permission to just be.

You have in your body the perpetual feeling of love for other and world, I now give you permission to stop trying,

to stop filling,

to stop bridging,

to stop fighting,

to stop sharing,

to stop talking,

to stop proving,

to stop giving away the love and peace and presence that has been gifted you from God and the Universe.

I give you permission to hold that love, presence and peace in the chambers of your physical body,

allowing them to filter through every system, replenishing and growing to overflow so that your be-ing becomes a natural expression of service, love and peace wherever you go.

It has been quite the month! Between the eclipse sandwich (2 solar and 1 lunar), my birthday and the powerful solstice energy in June I have felt A LOT of shifting as I try to live my life more presence, pleasure and peace! For me it has felt like I've been coming in for a "landing." I've been feeling the Earth's energy draw me close and closer. It's been calling me to live from my lower chakras (of rootedness, creativity and power) to balance the "floatier" energies of heart, head and beyond! I've been feeling a call to "anchor in" (whatever that means). ;)

Maybe you have felt it too?!

Or maybe you've been feeling the urge to let go, allow, to "fly!"

So today was "landing day" for me! I have never felt so grounded and in my body EVER...and it feels really good! I can feel my feet on the ground (literally) for the first time and there is a pleasant heaviness to my mass of of cells and organs that lets me know I am even MORE fully alive than before.

One of the main things I stress in sessions with clients is to trust their own instincts and inner wisdom. So today, my body, my wisdom is calling me to enjoy, relish and be present to this transition and integration of more of me. Although there are many things to do...I am going to joyfully listen. This means going offline until Monday (at least) and just being very present in my body!

Neat - huh? :)

I'm excited to dive into the new space we just created for messiness and art with my two amazing daughters and really get my hands dirty. I'm excited to be amazed at the way my clothes feel on my skin and the way my hair brushes against my shoulders...all things I have never really felt. I feel like I am home again and I want to be present to it, extract every ounce of pleasure from it and rest in the peace of knowing I listened...really listened to the wisdom of my body and soul. I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you.

Until then, please let me know how you have been experiencing your own life. Have you felt a shift? Are you feeling more open...expansive? Have you constricted any areas of your life? Please leave a comment below and I look forward to connecting next week!

Last week I blogged about Alignment #1 for living a more authentic life. These are rules I "officially" lived at Eden Unplugged in a small community of evolutionary entrepreneurs for three days and nights. They also represent the genuine feeling of self-awareness and community that was the real education students received in my classroom as a teacher of young souls...solving equations was secondary. :) I'm so excited to share them with you and have already received amazing feedback about peeps actually applying these principles to their lives and seeing results! Woo hoo!

Alignment #2: Don't Do What You Don't Want To Do!

Now I was thinking to myself, this is the same as the first alignment and I really like to keep things positive rather than tell people what NOT to do. But there are a few important distinctions I would like to highlight here.

Those of you who have ever said to yourself...

I have to...

I should...

I'm supposed to...

I always get roped into...

I hate doing this but...

I don't really want to but...

then you are doing things that ARE NOT serving your highest interset and robbing you of more PRESENCE, PLEASURE and PEACE right now!

No more obligations!

Here's the subtlety -

Alignment #2 is about you CEASING from doing the things you don't really want to do and

Very important as the basis for each of theseSix Alignments I learned at Eden is...

learning to become very present in your own life, day to day, moment to moment, millisecond to millisecond! When you are present body, mind and soul to yourself, your environment and to the people and energy around you, these alignments will come more naturally and produce more love, peace and inspired learning in your life.

So...

Alignment #1: Do What You Want To Do

No...really! Stop worrying about how you will appear or offend people...just listen to yourself (there's that get present thing again) and do what you WANT!

You can rest assured you will ALWAYS get immediate and useful information back from the Universe. Use it or don't.

But for God's sake and your sanity, get in your body, listen and DO WHAT YOU WANT! ♥

This has helped me with the art of allowing...when others do what they want and don't try to guess what they SHOULD do, or what YOU want them to do, it frees all of us to allow for natural consequences good, bad or neutral, set boundaries and communicate our needs.

When I do what I want I can observe the affects on myself and the people around me. It makes me an observer of my own life and empowers me to choose based on desirable or undesirable outcomes. Doing what I want helps get me closer to living the life, relationships and purpose I truly want to be living in this world by providing immediate feedback to my choices rather than having to navigate the thinking and psychology around why I choose what I choose. I choose it because I want to! It works to bring more life or it doesn't.

As someone who's always had...well...no boundaries, accepting that others do what they want has helped me be true to myself by setting better boundaries or reaching out with authentic communication if I am uncomfortable or don't understand someone else’s choices. Not to mention making it easier for me to let go of um, well...eh hem..some...(cough, cough)...control issues! Whew! :)

Practical Tip: Stay present...pay attention and accept the feedback the Universe provides when you do what you want! Use it...or don't!

It has been quite an adjustment this last month after returning from Eden! It's like I was on a natural high immediately when I returned...and then my body was like, wait, this is TOO good and I created situations in my life to screw myself out of manifesting in my "real" life all the wonderful things that happened inside me at Eden!

It can look like picking a fight with your partner (this is my fav...blah...poor Steve), procrastinating, yelling at your kids, overeating, not taking care of yourself, really anything that will keep you from focusing on making positive change in your life and bring you right back down into the muckity-muck! I've felt this many times before I know I'm supposed to step into something bigger. It feels like you're being stretched from the inside out.

Why? Because you're expanding into new uncharted territory!!! Exciting but oh-so-scary too!

So instead of heading back to where I feel "comfortable" (which actually, after fighting about the dishes for the 400th time, I realized, really actually sucks!) I've begun LIVING what I learned at Eden and wouldn't ya know, I'm right back on track and ready to share it with ya'll.

So here a simple tool we used regularly at Eden Unplugged and I have used in many other arenas in my life throughout the years!

This works at home, work, social gatherings, classrooms, with kids, with cranky spouses, with friends and strangers alike! And yes, I've tried it with all of the above!

So please, for God's sake and your sanity,

try this at home! :)

Circle Time!

1) Sit or stand in a circle...yes, that's right, just like in kindergarden! (also works with two people, so no excuses :)).

2) Take a deep breath together. Do it a few times if it feels a little weird. (yes, we did this in my junir high classromm almost every day)

3) Invite everyone to check in or pay attention to how their body is feeling (giggle, giggle). This could mean physically, energetically, if there is pain, or excitement in the belly, light headed, nervous energy, etc.

4) Invite everyone to share.

a) Name

b) How there are feeling in there body and

c) if there is anything keeping them from feeling completely present right there and then.

Or come up with a question of your own. We used "What inspired you to come" at our last community gathering and it was so incredible to watch people (many complete strangers) simply begin to connect...

authentically...

by just sitting in circle together!

Try it. You might like it! :) Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below! :)

I’ve been humbled this week. I was forced to really look at the message I am sending out to people. A message I’ve tried to live, communicate and teach for years…to just “be!” I sometimes talk about “being present” (one of my rules as a classroom teacher) and last week encouraged you (and myself) to just be and allow.

This week I got an email from a beloved friend of 20 + years, pissed off that I was telling people to “just be” when our world was falling apart. He felt I was giving people an excuse to just sit on their asses all day and not lift a finger to do the work that is required to get our world back on track. I’ve built my life and business around the concept and practice of “being present” so this well meaning email caused me to take pause!

Okay, his directness stung a little (a lot :))…but it inspired me. After the sting wore off…to question my own intentions and also take a deeper look at the reasons for living, coaching and writing so much about this topic.

Was there some truth to what he was suggesting?

Was I giving people and possibly myself an excuse to be lazy?

I knew there was some truth in it because of the strong reaction I had.

Note: if you have a strong reaction to something someone else says or does there is always a lesson (and a gift) in it for YOU…it has nothing to do with the other person.

So here’s what I learned. I DO hide behind my keyboard quite often. It is safe and I can choose whether or not I respond to emails and comments about what I write. It protects my sensitive nature and in some ways keeps me from actually doing the work that I know needs to get done in real life that would make my services more accessible. Writing is one way of being present for me so if I’m writing and nurturing my own soul, thus advancing the consciousness of the world, then all is well...right? Maybe. Or is more balance called for. Hmmm...at least something for me to ponder.

So, I have now taken more action this week to do some of the things I’ve wanted to do for a long time (namely getting organization and systems in place to help boost my productivity). Whoa, did that just leave my fingertips? lol

Thanks to my amazing friend, I’ve allowed my “being” time to be a catalyst for inspired action and both the being and the doing have been more fruitful! Woot! :)

I also learned that I don’t have to be afraid to question and reflect on what I believe to be true. If any of you have had to leave a religion or have lived a life in opposition to your family’s values (I’ve done both) then you know what I mean.

I was worried that if I really looked at my motivations, intentions and “truths” about being present, I would find that I actually know jack squat about what I was trying to articulate and thus be found out to be a fraud! But the gift was that as I communicated with my friend, I became more and more convinced of the importance of becoming aware and being present in order to act, do and work from a place of authenticity. He forced me to stand up for my beliefs and also mirrored back and affirmed them as I was able to clarify my motivations.

I stand firm knowing that as we become more present to your our own life we heighten the effectiveness and meaning of our work in the world as well as create fun and ease within the process of “work” itself!

So many of us just do and do and do without ever stopping to think…what the hell am I running around doing all this for?

Why am I working so hard at a job I despise?

Why am I giving all of my time to things I really could care less about?

Because society tells you to? Your boss? Your God?

This I know, until you are able to be - just be - with yourself and until you get present enough to hear your own soul, your actions will be forced, laborious, and less effective than if you learn to get present and listen.

So there it is...the lesson that kicked my butt into action and the gift of my friend (and teacher) for speaking his own truth to help me clarify my own!

I’ve been trying to find a way to express to all of you what I soaked up, practiced and learned at Eden Unplugged last week. There is so much I want to tell you but as I sit to write, my heart is heavy because writing this means I am no longer there…for reals.

I’m no longer sitting naked in the healing waters of the hot springs, I am no longer in the warm shelter of my tent/soul mate mama, I am no longer listening, connecting, crying, hugging, eye gazing, dancing and holding space with the beautiful souls I was fortunate enough to cross paths with on this desert in the journey.

Smiling through the tears now.

As I sit hear in my local coffee shop sipping a matte latte with a scarf I wore most of the time at Eden wrapped around my shoulders (I may never wash this thing again), trying to keep the hip barista guy from seeing proof of sorrow streaming down my face, I feel an incredible energy and hopefulness! My experience at Eden has proven to me that the world I have dreamed of all my life (and somewhat lived in, if only in my head :)) IS possible! We CAN be and love, allow and accept, create and fall apart with each other…in community!

We no longer have to live in the illusion of isolation!

You can be who you really are…all of you… naked and raw, vulnerable and brilliant and it will be okay...it will be enough!

Writing this, honoring what I said I would do when I got back and sharing what I have learned, is calling me out of that space in my heart I have not wanted to let go of for the past 11 days…so thank you for holding me to my promise to share…I will, in depth and in all the amazingness that is Eden and Eden unplugged share more! For now, thank you for allowing me this moment to grieve the physical experience of Eden so that I can begin to, with your help, manifest the spirit of Eden in the real world! Woo hoo!

I think it will seep out through these messages over the next few weeks but if there is one lesson to take away and one I am learning through this process of reintegration into the “default” world, it is honor where you are. If you feel yourself, trying, pulling, pushing, straining, feeling the “have tos” and shoulds…stop…no seriously,

Stop...

Take a deep belly breath….

Allow whatever you are feeling to just be. Allow yourself to feel it in your body and feel it and feel it and FEEL IT until the Universe has squeezed every last beautiful, sparkling nourishing tear from you and then…

When I said "yes" to running a drop in center for teenagers for a year,

when I said "yes" to my first teaching job

and when I said "yes" to directing and stage managing a Shakespeare play for my students (ahh..hem...I'm the math teacher, kids)!

All of these times in my life, I knew I was saying "yes" to something bigger than me, something that would require more of me than I thought I was capable of at the time I decided to say "yes." I was saying yes to unknown territory so...

all these "yeses" required me to stay very, very present as I was experiencing them!

And although at the time it felt like I was stepping into the abyss...saying yes to the unknown changed me forever!

The most recent of these moments until now was when I found myself pregnant outside the context of a "conventional relationship" and saying "yes" to this life inside me as well as to the possibility of a relationship with my friend and the father of my child.

I have been stretched, expanded and literally cut open and my insides exposed through this "yes." This yes to a new life has required a kind of presence I've only read about in words of saints, mystics and master meditators! :) And the rest is, well, evolving! :)

This week, I have felt that familiar urge to expand once again...and quite frankly it's freaking me out!

When have you felt like this in your own life? Are you feeling like this now? (your are not alone!!!)

So becasue I'm trying to get this letter out while my children are engaged in something else, I only have a moment and I want to be authentic and somewhat helpful.

Bringing awareness to when this expansion is happening is incredibly important and will save you from that "how did I end up here, again" feeling! :)

So try this!

1) Name what is making you to feel stretched

2) Feel it in your body. Feeling into that fear...into that feeling of I'm not good enough...into what you might have to leave behind if you say "yes."

3) Now feel into the possibility of your own brilliance? Into the present moment and the creation of YOU happening right now? Feel in to the abundance and unlimited potential of you and the Youniverse! :)

4) Now...say "yes!" Jump! Woo hoooo!

This I know...the incredible, benevolent Universe will support your unfolding...your "yes" to the unknown...your "yes" to your awesomeness!

You (and I:)) am crossing the threshhold into more love, more light, more depth, more authenticity and vulnerability! It may feel very raw, but don't turn back!

Stay present and enjoy the ride! A more integrated, brilliant, enjoyable version of yourself is on the other side!

To my defense I chalk this up to being a "highly intuitive and sensitive child" who kept her perception of the world deep down inside for a LONG time! So now that the pity part is over (almost ;)) and I've found my voice, my emotions, intuitions, judgments, ideas, inspirations now come spewing out on those unexpecting victims I like to call my loved ones at warp speed! :)

Do you know anyone like this? ;)

Now that my feet are beginning to touch the ground, I am learning how to be "in authentic relationship" with other human beings in this earthly realm... and, well, in my earth tone living room.

I'm not talking about the kind of relationship where, you play and role and I play a role...I ignore your shit if you ignore mine. I'm talking about a whole new paradigm of being together...a welcoming, accepting and helping each other transform into more highly evolved individuals who carry the light of the Universe within our very SOULS kind of relationship!

And to be frank...I suck at this!

But,

I'm learning every day and I wanted to share something (pretty drastic) I did this week to keep my impulsivity in check and my relationships in tact! :)

I decided to be silent!

That’s right folks…I am a non-reactionary, all accepting, completely allowing, non-attachment, loving, breathing (a lot of breathing) woman! It can be done. When emotions, reactions, intuitive feelings, judgments, perceptions want to come hurdling out of me at the speed of light (which is quite often, I might add),

I stop…

take a breath…

acknowledge my feelings (very important),

take responsibility for my own stuff and

whewwwwwwwwwwwww……exhale!

And all this in the time it would normally take me to cut someone off, mispercieve their intention, project my own fears, doubts or insecurities on them, and then make some distorted profession of my all knowing, all seeing nature! J